Just Call Me Joe

Frieda Wishinsky

Description

The year is 1909 and Joseph has just immigrated to the United States from Russia. He thinks that life in New York City will be wonderful, but he has not bargained for the challenges of learning English and of resisting the pressures to skip school, steal and fight to earn a place among the boys in his neighbourhood. Just Call Me Joe presents a full picture of life in New York City for the working poor. Anna, Joe's older sister, struggles to cope with the terrible factory conditions of the time. Aunt Sophie must take in boarders to make ends meet. And Joseph must both accept change and remain true to himself in a new city with new challenges.

Sujets

• 20th Century
• Historical
• Juvenilee Fiction
• United States

Informations

• Publié par: Orca Book Publishers
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781554696550
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Just Call Me Joe
Just Call Me Joe
Frieda Wishinsky
Copyright 2003 Frieda Wishinsky
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Wishinsky, Frieda
Just call me Joe / Frieda Wishinsky.
Orca young readers.
ISBN 1-55143-249-8
I. Title.
PS8595.I834J87 2003 jC813 .54 C2003-910400-1
PZ7.W78032J87 2003
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2003107504
Summary: Life in New York City in the early twentieth century is tougher than Joseph ever dreamed it would be. Teachers guide available at www.orcabook.com Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support of its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council.
Cover design by Christine Toller Cover illustration by Don Kilby Interior illustrations by Stephen McCallum Printed and bound in Canada
IN CANADA Orca Book Publishers 1030 North Park Street Victoria, BC Canada V8T 1C6
IN THE UNITED STATES Orca Book Publishers PO Box 468 Custer, WA USA 98240-0468
05 04 03 5 4 3 2 1
For my friends Kathy Kacer and Penny Fransblow and withthanks to Esther Sarah Evans .
Chapter One Sometimes They Send You Back
We re here! We re in America! shouted Joseph, waving his cap in the air.
All around him people shouted and waved, as the ship passed the gleaming Lady with the Torch, the Statue of Liberty. It was as if all the misery of the last three weeks, the smells and sickness of too many people packed too tightly together, had disappeared into the early morning fog.
Joseph! Your cap . . . said his seventeen year old sister, Anna. But before she could finish her sentence, Joseph s brown cap flew out of his hand.
Oh no! thought Joseph as he watched his cap ride the waves like a toy boat and then sink into the Atlantic.
Oh Joseph, said Anna. Papa made it for you.
Joseph sighed. It was true. Papa had made it for him, but he couldn t let losing a cap spoil this wonderful day.
It was already old and torn, Anna, said Joseph. In America, I will buy a new cap. In America, I will buy an American cap.
Anna said nothing, but Joseph knew what she was thinking. He was thinking it too.
Mama. Papa.
At that moment, he would have given all the gold in America to have Mama and Papa there beside them.
Joseph closed his eyes and imagined his parents as they looked the last time he saw them. Papa, tall and stooped from days hunched over his sewing machine, tears flowing down his cheeks as he kissed his children goodbye. And Mama, her curly hair tinged with gray, whispering over and over, Take care of each other.
But Joseph didn t want to think about his parents now. It hurt too much. It was better to remember how good it would be never to be frightened again by murderous Russian soldiers sneaking up on you in the woods or bursting into your house at night. Three months ago a drunken soldier had found him gathering mushrooms in the woods and pointed a gun at his head. Next time you won t be so lucky, Jew, he d warned. And a week later, two of Joseph s fourteen-year-old cousins had not been so lucky. They were murdered in the neighboring shtetl, a small town much like Joseph s own.
Night after night, for a week after their deaths, Papa and Mama stayed up late talking. Then early Sunday morning, they told Anna and Joseph they had made a decision.
You must go to America, said Papa. We have just enough money for your passage. Anna, you are old enough to find work and look after Joseph. My sister Sophie in New York will help you. She is on her own since her husband died two years ago and she has no children. We will come as soon as we can.
Papa had placed his warm hand on Joseph s shoulder. And you will help Anna, Joseph. You are strong and smart.
Papa was right.
So what if he was only ten? So what if he was short for his age and skinny as a stick? Didn t he outwit that bully Mendel? Mendel was taller and stronger than Joseph, but that didn t matter. Joseph had tied Mendel s laces to the table at heder, their school, last week, and Mendel had crashed to the floor before he could snatch Joseph s bread.
I ll get you for this, Mendel sneered.
Me? said Joseph, in an innocent voice. I m not good at knots.
A tug at his sleeve woke Joseph from his thoughts. Look Joseph, said Anna. Look at New York City. It s so big.
Joseph s eyes widened as he looked up at the skyline. Buildings like castles towered side by side. It was all so tall, so new, so unknown. So different from the shtetl with its low wooden buildings all jumbled together. He knew every house, every farm, every tree in the shtetl. He knew every wagon and stand in the bustling marketplace where the peasants sold their fish, grain and vegetables and where he helped mama sell the pants and shirts Papa sewed.
In America he knew nothing. Nothing now, but soon he d be walking down a real New York street. Soon he d learn everything about America and be a real American.
And there coming closer and closer was Ellis Island with its big, sprawling building. In that building, their fate would be sealed. They d be allowed to enter America or ordered back to Europe.
Two nights ago he d overheard Anna and her friend, Rose Finkel, whispering in the darkness of the airless steerage cabin.
Sometimes they send you back, said Rose. Especially if you re sick. Especially if you have the eye sickness.
We re not sick, said Anna.
Some sicknesses you don t even know you have, said Rose. It comes out in the inspection.
The way she whispered inspection made Joseph s heart skip a beat. It sounded like torture.
As if she d read his mind, Rose continued, The inspection is terrible.
No. No, Joseph thought. I can t go back to Russia. Joseph shuddered remembering his encounter with the Russian soldier in the woods. He never wanted to feel that scared again. But no matter how hard he d tried to convince himself that Rose was only spreading rumors, he could still hear her whispered warning as the ship drew near Ellis Island.
Sometimes they send you back.
Chapter Two The Chosen
Next. Next. Next.
The words echoed through Joseph s head as he stood in line beside Anna. When would the lines end? When would they stop being crammed together like herrings in a jar?
The ferry to Ellis Island was bad enough. It had no toilets or air. Just people pressing so close, he could barely breathe.
And then in this huge building on Ellis Island, there were more people. Old people with faces wrinkled like leather, mamas and papas hushing crying babies, and young people waiting to meet relatives they didn t even know.
Joseph could smell the fear in the building, a sour, stifling smell like spoiled milk. But no matter how much he hated the smell or the feeling of being herded like cattle or tagged like baggage, returning to Russia would be worse.
Joseph glanced at Anna. She d lost so much weight from seasickness, her brown dress hung loosely on her shoulders. Anna hadn t said a word since they stepped off the ferry. She just stood beside Joseph biting her nails. He knew she was scared. She always bit her nails when she was scared. Why did Rose Finkel have to frighten them with all her talk of being sent back? Even he couldn t shake the nervous rumbling in his stomach.
Only Rose didn t seem worried. As the line crawled, she jabbered on and on about her father and his job in a shirtwaist factory.
Maybe he can help you find work too, Anna, Rose offered. He knows people in New York and he speaks English. He s been in New York since 1904, five years already, she told them for the third time.
Next, barked the inspector, as they inched closer.
It was a young woman s turn.
Name and who are you traveling with? the inspector asked the woman in Yiddish.
Manya Karetsky and I am alone, she answered.
Who is meeting you?
My uncle Sol Karetsky, she answered.
A doctor quickly listened to Manya s heart and without a word, marked her with blue chalk and stuck a letter H around her neck.
What is this? Manya stammered.
You may have a heart problem, said the doctor. We will have to examine you more. We can not admit you now.
It must be a mistake, cried Manya. My uncle is waiting. I cannot stay here. Oh please. Let me go to my uncle. I am not sick.
But despite her tears and protests, the sobbing girl was led away.
Anna s face turned white as new snow, as Manya disappeared from sight.
Next, barked the inspector.
It was Rose s turn.
Name and who are you with? the inspector asked.
Rose answered without hesitation.
Her health inspection proceeded easily till the sharp button hook pin was pushed under hereyelid.
Ay. Ay, Rose winced in pain.
But when the inspector barked, Next, her face burst into a relieved smile.
Don t worry Anna, she whispered, squeezing Anna s hand warmly. It will be fine for you too.
But Anna didn t seem to hear. She looked dazed, as if someone had hit her with a brick.
Anna, move, Joseph nudged her.
As if hypnotized, Anna took a step forward.
Name and who are you traveling with? barked the inspector.
Anna said nothing.
Name. Name, the inspector boomed impatiently.